Celebrating 10 years of the Yogyakarta Principles: What have we learnt and where to now? Karen Gomez-Dumpit spoke in detail about the experience of the Philippines Human Rights Commission (CHR) in relation to Yogyakarta Principles and SOGIESC in general. Various programmes of partnerships with the civil society and advocacy for the rights of LGBTI have yielded positive results in many cases. However, some challenges still remain. A case in point is that of Ang Ladlad vs Commission on Elections. The Commission on Elections denied the petitioner, Ang Ladlad, registration as a political organisation in 2009, basing the decision the fact that Ang Ladlad is an LGBT organisation which “tolerate[d] immorality which offends religious beliefs”. Ang Ladlad petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari review, which was granted. Later, the CHR intervened on behalf of Ang Ladlad in this case before the Supreme Court. Subsequently, The Supreme Court rejected all the reasons given by the Commission on Elections, and also rejected any public morals argument arguing that the Commission on Elections’ ruling violated the Philippine doctrine of freedom of expression. However, the High Court did not recognise the Yogyakarta Principles as a basis for its decision and the application of international human rights norms. CHR’s work with civil society organisations on a broad range of issues relevant to the LGBTI community included advocacy on the right to housing, especially on the issue of exclusion of LGBT headed households in the provision of socialized housing. In addition, engagements with the business community on business and human rights dimensions related to promoting and protecting diversity in the workplace were accentuated. With these experiences, there is an increasing need to step up the discourse on SOGIESC, including the exploration of avenues to incorporate these rights in other areas of human rights advocacy such as business and human rights. Overall, such advocacy campaigns should be driven by the understanding that the future is always on the side of equality. Sunil Babu Pant provided important insights into the cultural approach to understanding the significance of Yogyakarta Principles. To this effect, a key challenge still remains in many parts of the world in addressing acts of violation perpetrated by state agents which are often driven by a culture of impunity and expressed in the language of ‘devotee culture’. Very often, the lower level officers pass the responsibility to their seniors, stating that they were simply carrying out orders. 14